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Hundreds arrested, $96K in narcotics seized in multi-agency operation

By Anastasia Semien;
Published 11:00 p.m. CT Jan. 21, 2014

Police Chief Jim Craft speaks to the media at a press conference about “Operation: A New Resolution,” a multi-agency operation that resulted in 251 arrests and $96,894 in narcotics recovered. Also shown from left, Maj. Ned Fowler with the Lafayette Police Department, Capt. John Babin with the Metro Narcotics Task Force and Chief Carlos Stout of the Carencro Police Department.
(Photo:
Anastasia Semien
)

Lafayette’s Metro Narcotics Task Force and law enforcement agencies across Acadiana cooperated on a three-day operation in January to target areas of suspected crime and drug activity.

The operation, which ran from Jan 14 to Jan. 17, resulted in 251 arrests, 179 citations and almost $97,000 of recovered narcotics. Agencies also recovered more than $34,000 worth of stolen property and more than $21,000 worth of property, such as vehicles and money, used in illegal activities.

“For those three days, proactive criminal patrols were done, targeting street-level drug sales,” Lafayette Police Chief Jim Craft said Wednesday at a press conference. “We expanded our reach to get these dealers of illegal drugs off the streets, and it’s making our community safer and it’s making our surrounding communities safer,” Craft said.

One vehicle and four guns were seized, according to law enforcement officials. Cocaine and methamphetamine were the top two drugs seized, with more than $52,000 in cocaine recovered and more than $26,000 in methamphetamine.

Marijuana accounted for more than $12,000 of narcotics confiscated.

“Anytime you can get a group of agencies together to do something like this, considering that the majority of these agencies are struggling with manpower issues, to get those resources to do something like this is a big deal,” said Capt. John Babin, who oversees the Lafayette Metro Narcotics Task Force for the Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office.

“Instead of waiting for crimes to occur, we went out there looking and targeting people in areas that we think are problem areas,” Babin said.

Babin said the agencies are hoping to do an operation like this one every three or four months. He said this push is to let criminals know that they will be sought out and prosecuted.

“I always preach to my guys that we have to think outside of the box. We can’t continue to do everything the same old way, because crime changes,” Babin said.

“They (criminals) learn, so we have to change along with that,” he added.